MUSHROOM CULTURE. 139 



manure mixture to build up a cone-shaped elevation of 

 twelve or fifteen inches. In ten days the spawn should 

 have sprouted and filled the whole mass of manure with 

 white thread-like filaments. When these are seen run- 

 ning through the entire pile, cover it with two inches of 

 fine loam, through which the mushroom buttons will 

 develop, and from which the cultivator should be able 

 to get a fair supply covering a period of from two to 

 four weeks. 



Mushrooms in the Garden. Near London and 

 Paris considerable quantities of mushrooms are grown in 

 the open garden. In London ordinary manure is used, 

 and before it has time to heat is made into long narrow 

 beds. When the temperature reaches eighty degrees it 

 is seeded with spawn, covered with two inches of any 

 good soil, and blanketed with mats or tarpaulins. In 

 Paris, the outdoor cultivator generally lets the manure 

 ferment, and after frequent and thorough working, 

 makes 'beds thirty inches wide and two feet in height, 

 which he covers with mats. 



When the ' temperature falls to eighty degrees he 

 spawns the bed, inserting pieces of spawn the size of a 

 walnut, placing it in three lines, one near the bottom 

 edge of the bed, the second ten inches up along the side, 

 and the third ten inches above the second. He next 

 covers with mats or cloth. After ten days, if the spawn 

 has started, he covers with two inches of soil. 



The writer had the pleasure, a few years ago, of vis- 

 iting the mushroom caves of Paris, the extent of such 

 cultivation being measured by the daily product of four 

 tons of buttons. The work is done in the underground 

 caverns and galleries of the old limestone quarries, from 

 which was taken the stone to build the city. 



The manure is mixed upon the surface, lowered 

 in large buckets, and in the same manner returned to 

 the surface for remaking. Of course, all the work has 



